The post The key role Lydia Ko’s Ping driver played in her gold medal performance appeared first on Golf.

The post The key role Lydia Ko’s Ping driver played in her gold medal performance appeared first on Golf.

Last week, Scottie Scheffler elevated his game and erased a four-shot deficit during the final round to win gold. On Saturday, Lydia Ko was able to write her own ending with a similarly impressive final round that netted her a gold medal and a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame.

When Scheffler won gold, TaylorMade posted a “win ad” congratulating him on the accomplishment. Ko didn’t receive the same treatment after her triumph. This has nothing to do with prioritizing the men’s gold-medalist over the women’s gold-medalist. Unlike Scheffler, who’s attached to TaylorMade, Ko’s an equipment free agent playing Ping and Titleist gear without compensation.

Of the two brands represented in her bag, Ping has the biggest presence with nine clubs, including a 9-degree G430 Max 10K driver that Ko added earlier this season. On a layout where fairways hit far outweighed driving distance, Ko’s driver played a key supporting role down the stretch as she fended off the competition.

“One of the things [Lydia’s] been focused on is bringing spin down,” said Ping’s LPGA Tour rep Jack UIrich. “She tried 10K earlier in the year but ended up going to LST to get the spin rate she wanted. Then she asked to test 10K again at the [Mizuho Americas Open] and it stuck. She’s always played drivers with lower loft. Her current 10K is set at 8.5 degrees in the Flat Minus setting. There’s a little bit of weight forward (a couple grams) to get it in the window she likes to see.”

No one is confusing 10K with LST, but one of the things Ulrich has observed during head-to-head testing between the two drivers is 10K’s consistent spin rates across the face. When the pressure cranks up on Sunday afternoon, not having to sweat a noticeable dip in driver performance on mishits can be a godsend.

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“The 10K does spin a little more than the LST, but not as much as the standard Max,” Ulrich said. “It just goes so stinking straight. When players are willing to give up a little bit of distance — because LST is the fastest of the models we have — they gain a ton of stability across the face. The spin rates are super stable, too. The LST is forgiving in its self, but just gaining a few more fairways, players like the sound of that.”

During testing with Ko at the Mizuho, Ulrich watched her produce 2,300 RPMs on center face strikes, with the highest spin rate clocking in at 2,700 RPMs.

“It was impressive,” Ulrich said. “When she’s swinging really good, those spin rates stay extremely tight, even on the extreme misses. The ball flight is straighter, and from one of our last conversations, I remember her saying that erring on the side of higher spin — and it’s not like it’s crazy high — seemed to help. Her ball flight is usually left to right, and the LST was maybe curving a little more while the 10K was just staying really straight. Giving up a little bit of distance to gain accuracy has been a part of it for Lydia playing 10K.”

Ko’s experience with 10K matches up with what GOLF.com’s gear team saw during robotic testing. Looking closer at the numbers, G430 Max 10K earned high marks on toe strikes with a carry distance delta of 2.5 yards, due in large part to the tighter spin deltas. Low center strikes saw a similar drop-off in distance, to the tune of 3.1 yards with the 10.5-degree head.

The tight carry distance deltas give 10K products a slight edge over their Max counterparts, but there’s an even more impressive aspect that needs to be discussed.

On a geometric center strike, the 10.5-degree G430 Max 10K produced 12 degrees of launch and 2,700 RPMs of spin. With most of the drivers we tested, moving impact a half-inch lower on the face generally decreases launch and increases spin by anywhere from 200-400 RPMs.

But that wasn’t the case with 10K when the impact location was lowered. Launch decreased to 9.4 degrees, but spin remained constant at 2,700 RPMs.

The goal is to make the launch and spin deltas tighter on mishits so they mimic numbers you’d see on a center strike, which is exactly what the robot saw with Ping’s 10K offering on a common mishit.

It’s the kind of winning equipment formula that allowed Ko to focus on the task at hand and realize a dream in France.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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The post How this ‘no-brainer’ Xander Schauffele gear swap gave him more control appeared first on Golf.

The post How this ‘no-brainer’ Xander Schauffele gear swap gave him more control appeared first on Golf.

When the difficulty was cranked up to expert level, only Xander Schauffele managed to find another gear down the stretch and prevail. It’s easy to look at Schauffele’s final round performance and chalk it up to mental fortitude. But that’s only one part of the equation. The tools have to perform under the gun as well.

In Schauffele’s case, every tool in the bag came up clutch in the big moments, especially the Callaway Chrome Tour golf ball.

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Of all the gear changes Schauffele made at the beginning of the season, switching from a prototype version of Callaway’s Chrome Soft X into Chrome Tour appeared to be uncomplicated.

“The golf ball is identical,” Schauffele said of the swap at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. “I think they just stamped a new logo on it.”

If the balls were “identical,” then why switch at all? According to Callaway Tour rep Kellen Watson, it was more about the subtle performance improvements seen during testing. More specifically, how the ball managed to hold its own in blustery conditions.

“With the improved aerodynamics, it was a no-brainer for him to switch balls,” Callaway Tour rep Kellen Watson told GOLF.com. “It’s one of those aspects pros notice when they’re testing on their own. For Xander, he was able to keep getting better in an area that didn’t require any major adjustments to his equipment. It was a compelling reason to make the switch.”

While the area package on a golf ball rarely garners the attention it deserves, Callaway invested heavily in the design of a new Seamless Tour Aero package found on Chrome Tour.

Gear

“Each ball will have a uniquely designed aerodynamic pattern, and it’s completely different from anything we’ve ever done, bringing our aerodynamics into a completely different zone,” said Eric Loper, Callaway’s senior director, golf ball R&D.

Callaway’s hexagonal dimple design remains a key part of the aero package, along with something else that won’t immediately stand out: a strategically placed spherical dimple adding consistency throughout the flight.

“By managing each dimple, it enables us to focus on the ball flight from start to finish, where the ball starts off fast but as it approaches the ground the speed has significantly decreased,” Loper said. “This has led us down this path of developing an industry first, it’s a combination of Callaway’s hexagonal surface geometry with strategically placed spherical dimples that provide stability through the entire ball flight. We’ve ended up with model-specific patterns that maximize distance and improve stability over the entire ball flight, which the player will see in a variety of conditions.”

Schauffele began ball testing in mid-October and immediately noticed how much easier it was to execute shots without doing the usual mental math to account for the wind direction. But ball testing at home doesn’t pay the bills. It wasn’t until he put it to the test in competition that he saw the same results under pressure.

“That’s when you know you made the right decision,” Schauffele told GOLF.com. “When you start to see the ball handling [the windy] conditions, it allows you to be more aggressive and trust that [the ball is] going to execute the shots.”

Since the switch, Schauffele has won the Open Championship and PGA Championship. Not bad for a guy who didn’t have a major to his name at the start of the season.

Schauffele’s trust in his Chrome Tour ball was on full display during the final round as he attacked Royal Troon with surgical precision. Even the tough shots didn’t seem to bother the 30-year-old — like a 173-yard flyer on the par-4 11th. With the wind blowing off the left at 17 mph, Schauffele extracted the ball from the tall grass and watched as it cut through the wind and landed softly on the front edge before settling within a few feet of the hole for an improbable birdie.

It’s the kind of shot that only reaffirmed his decision to switch balls in January. Shaking up a successful setup is never easy, but it makes all the hours spent testing behind the scenes worth it when the eventual outcome is major championship hardware.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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The post This gear constant has propelled Scottie Scheffler to new heights appeared first on Golf.

The post This gear constant has propelled Scottie Scheffler to new heights appeared first on Golf.

If you need proof, just compare the setup from Arnie’s place to the setup he used to log title number six on Sunday at the Travelers Championship. It’s copy and paste when Scheffler hits paydirt.

Playing equipment favorites is an impossible task when you’re streaking, even if recency bias tells us Scheffler’s switch to a TaylorMade Spider Tour X mallet — a change that went down at Bay Hill — was the most important gear shakeup of the year. (You can read about the putter move in a recent deep dive.)

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But let’s forget about the putter for the moment and shift the focus to another early-season move that turned out to be equally important for Scheffler’s driving.

Back in February, Scheffler moved away from TaylorMade’s Stealth 2 driver into Qi10 after going through extensive testing sessions dating back to just before the Ryder Cup. Scheffler found Qi10 to be an intriguing option, but it wasn’t until the WM Phoenix Open that he decided to pull the trigger and make the change official.

“There was no way he was considering switching out of the Stealth 2 for even the same performance,” TaylorMade Tour rep Adrian Rietveld told GOLF.com. “He saw a little bit of ball speed, but that didn’t matter to him at all. He values accuracy so much, which is why he hardly looks at a ball speed number. His range of spin is wider than other players because he hits so many different shots and trajectories. He’s hitting shots at 6 and 12 degrees of launch.”

The “core” head, better known as TaylorMade’s middle-of-the-road offering, is an intriguing beast. During GOLF’s 2024 robotic testing, Qi10 presented a lower spin rate and launch angle than a majority of the drivers tested, two things better players with speed tend to gravitate towards. Another thing that intrigued Scheffler was the ball speed retention and consistent spin rates he observed on off-center strikes.

With each testing session, Scheffler could sense they were getting closer. During the final meetup at TPC Scottsdale, Scheffler pounded drivers with Qi10 on the TPC Scottsdale driving range as caddie Ted Scott and Rietveld observed the results.

The launch and spin numbers were dialed. The only thing that remained was eliminating the left side of the course with internal changes and a small loft adjustment, something Rietveld was able to achieve with a final loft sleeve adjustment.

“It’s getting dark and we’ve just made the final adjustment, moving the head one click higher back to standard upright, which is what he normally plays the 8-degree head,” Rietveld recalled. “Launch didn’t change, spin didn’t change, but the thing that changed for him is that he felt like there was zero left. There wasn’t even a straight shot. He really felt like he could commit to his start line. He was trying to take the whole left side of the golf course out.”

Scheffler won the first week out with Qi10 and hasn’t looked back. For someone who lives in the fairway, Scheffler has gotten even better this season — a scary realization, to be sure. He’s gone from finding the fairway 62 percent of the time last season to almost 72 percent this year.

The impressive improvement in accuracy highlights the focus TaylorMade placed on reducing the performance delta on mishits during product creation. Reduce the penalty for a miss and everything starts looking up.

In Scheffler’s case, changes to the driver have coincided with a season that rivals Tiger Woods’ incredible 2000 campaign. One change didn’t completely alter the trajectory of Scheffler’s season, but there’s no question it played a role in making the 28-year-old nearly unbeatable on the course.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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The post Titleist’s GT drivers already have pros raving about 1 crucial aspect appeared first on Golf.

The post Titleist’s GT drivers already have pros raving about 1 crucial aspect appeared first on Golf.

Horschel’s polished swing makes it difficult to discern between perfect strikes and misses during testing. Feedback is critical to determine if adjustments need to be made to the club in question. So, too, is a launch monitor that spits out instantaneous data.

Lucky for Liam McDougall, Titleist’s European director of tour operations, Horschel always keeps the feedback flowing.

“That one was low on the face,” Horschel noted. “But it still felt like it was coming out of a good window.”

As McDougall assessed the launch monitor data on a tablet, he paused and turned to Horschel.

“What do you think the spin rate was on that one?” McDougall said.

For Horschel, a low miss tends to increase spin from 2,200 to 2,900 RPMs, leading to a dip in distance in most cases. For someone who currently ranks 93rd on Tour in driving distance, every yard counts when attempting to clear a bunker at 300 yards. But this particular drive was coming out of Horschel’s usual launch window (10-11 degrees) with 2,400 spin. (Horschel’s clubhead speed increased from 115 to 116.5 mph and ball speed ticked up from 173-174 to 175-178 during driver testing between TSR3 and GT3.)

In other words, the penalty for a low miss wasn’t showing up on the launch monitor.

“When you have a guy like Rory [McIlroy] who’s cruising in the upper 180s [ball speed], he can carry things 300 yards regardless of whether he’s spinning it 2,200 or 2,800 [RPMs],” Horschel told GOLF.com. “That ball is still going 310-plus yards. For someone like myself who carries it 295, I can carry things at 300 yards, but I have to be able to launch it and have the right spin.

In recent years, equipment manufacturers have begun to crack the driver code through new materials and processes. In the past, design sacrifices had to be made to produce certain launch, spin and forgiveness characteristics. Pull one performance lever and another had to be released. There was always a tradeoff to be made. But that could be changing.

Drivers

“Having those spin rates so tight allows me to get similar carry distances even when I don’t hit it good. If I do miss one a little thin, it’s not spinning at 2,800 or 2,900 where it could fly 10 yards shorter,” Horschel said. “It’s still going to fly the same distance or maybe a few yards shorter than if I hit it solid. It gives me the confidence if there’s a bunker at 300 or 305 I want to carry, I don’t have to be perfect. I can miss it and know it’s still going to carry. Once I get above 175, that gets me to the 300-plus yards of carry without having to launch it 13 degrees with 2,000 spin. I can still launch it in my window at 10 or 11 degrees with 2,300 or 2,400. Those extra 2 miles per hour go a long way.”

Titleist’s new GT drivers, which were released on Tour at the Memorial, appear to be the latest offering to feature tight spin deltas across the face. The tighter the spin rate on a mishit, compared to a center strike, the more consistent the launch and carry numbers. It essentially adds a new layer of forgiveness and ball speed retention where golfers need it most.

Along with Horschel, GOLF.com witnessed several GT driver testing sessions that produced similar spin rate results on misses. Peter Malnati, who has a low miss tendency, found distance gains through the same tight spin rate deltas as Horschel, along with an uptick in ball speed.

“When you look at [Peter], he swings well when he’s down,” JJ Van Wezenbeeck, Titleist’s director of player promotions, told GOLF.com. “He wants that cover down and is a lower-launch guy who misses more off the bottom. Getting better ball speeds down there is always important.

“Consistency has been showing up out here during testing. Launch, spin and speed are staying there, even on those misses. Getting a little uptick in speed is good for these guys, but when you’re playing the harder golf courses, having that consistency off the face is at a premium.”

While tighter spin rate deltas appear to be the biggest improvement from TSR to GT, Horschel highlighted another aspect that earned his approval.

“To me, the feel is persimmon-like,” said Horschel. “Ping Rapture was one of my favorites — the way it sounded, felt, looked. This Titleist [GT] is very similar to that. Everyone is different out here in the way they judge feel. I want it to feel really solid where the ball is staying on the face for a long time. I can relate to feel off that and it gives me a good idea if I missed it or hit it good. I’ve always been that way.”

With initial testing out of the way, Horschel and other potential GT users in the field at Muirfield Village will have to decide if they want to give the driver a go this week ahead of the U.S. Open. Although the two-year cadence is the same, this is the earliest Titleist has released a driver on Tour.

Asked why Titleist chose to go earlier than usual, Van Wezenbeeck said it was a no-brainer after the feedback they received from pros who helped develop the final GT product, including Will Zalatoris.

“We had guys like Will coming to us asking if they could test it,” Van Wezenbeeck said. “When you have a good thing, you don’t want to wait until the Fall to bring it out here.”

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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The post What happens when pros use a persimmon driver? | Wall-to-Wall appeared first on Golf.

The post What happens when pros use a persimmon driver? | Wall-to-Wall appeared first on Golf.

Throwing it back

The modern 460cc driver is here to stay but with a golf ball rollback materializing in the coming years, it’s fair to wonder what would happen if the ball stayed the same but golfers were forced to play a smaller driver profile. Or, in this case, a throwback persimmon wood.

At Colonial, pros were given the chance to test Hogan clubs from Ben Hogan’s personal collection, including several persimmon woods. For golf purists, the fleeting moment was a dream come true: Pros using persimmon at a Tour event.

Justin Rose was one of the pros who took several cuts with the driver using a modern ball — and the results were impressive.

Rose averaged anywhere from 167-168 mph ball speed with the driver which equated to roughly 267 yards of carry. All in, Rose’s total distance managed to creep over 290 yards on several hits. To put those numbers into perspective, the average carry distance on Tour, according to Trackman, is 282 yards.

Persimmon isn’t making a comeback on Tour, but it’s still fun to wonder what a pro tournament with throwback equipment would look like. It also leads to questions about whether a driver rollback would be more beneficial than a universal ball rollback.

If you’re Team Driver Rollback, know golf’s governing bodies confirmed they’re going to take a closer look at driver performance (spring-like effect and off-center forgiveness) in the coming years.

New wand

On Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Championship, Matt Kuchar strolled up to the practice putting green and was presented by Bettinardi Tour reps with the final version of a prototype putter he’d spent months working on with the manufacturer’s designers.

After going through dozens of iterations, Kuchar and Bettinardi landed on a center-shafted Hexperimental Proto. Most center-shafted putters are face-balanced, with the weight evenly distributed between the heel and toe. The weight distribution allows the head to move straight back and through instead of on an arc, which keeps the head from twisting at impact. 

Instead of simply making the head heavier to reduce twisting at impact, Bettinardi used an aluminum core — found in the cavity — to displace weight towards the heel and toe. The core improved the overall sound and feel at impact while also reducing the amount of head twisting Kuchar was used to seeing on mishits.

Kuchar liked the way the putter performed at Quail Hollow Club but chose to take it home and conduct additional testing on his own. He officially put the prototype in play for the first time last week at Colonial.

Hiding in plain sight

If you don’t count the high-toe option and new grinds that were added to the Jaws Raw lineup, the last wedge Callaway released was Jaws Raw in 2022. Callaway officials wouldn’t comment on the prototype that showed up at Colonial, but it’s assumed “Opus” is bound for retail at some point in the future.

One of the biggest questions still to be answered is who designed the wedge. Former wedge designer Roger Cleveland was unveiled as the EVP of Terra Forza Golf earlier this year and plans to focus on shaft projects going forward. That means Opus could wind up being his parting creation or the first short-game tool for a new wedge design team.

Compared to the most recent Jaws offering, Opus appears to have shifted away from the weight ports found in the back of the head that helped alter launch depending on the loft. A thicker piece of metal is positioned directly behind the hitting area and likely helps bolster feel. It’s possible the mass is being used to change the launch properties as well.

The toe profile has been thinned out to give it a more traditional look at address. The overall profile also looks to be more rounded than the current Jaws, which should appeal to gear traditionalists.

Major momentum

Justin Rose has been lethal with the putter at the majors over the last five years. At the PGA Championship, the former U.S. Open champion gained over 7 strokes on the field with an Axis1 Rose mallet. Since switching to the putter in 2019, Rose is a combined plus-63.912 in Strokes Gained: Putting at the majors.

The incredible run hasn’t resulted in a second major victory, but Rose admits it’s flipped the script on one of the weaker parts of his game.

“It’s always interesting at the major level,” Rose told GOLF.com. “I can’t quite attribute why the major level is different, but overall my [putting] stats have been way better since 2019, which was when I switched to the Axis1. [The putter] was one of the main reasons why I ended up moving in a different direction from TaylorMade. They still wanted a 14 club situation, but I felt strongly the putter and patents around the putter was something I wanted to take advantage of.”

At the time, Rose’s putter-only agreement was almost unheard of in an industry where staff deals have become the norm. Rose admits he gave up a healthy payday to ink the putter arrangement, but it was a calculated risk worth taking in the end. The numbers with the flatstick at the majors don’t lie.

“It was a performance-based decision,” he said. “Doing the deal probably cost me a lot. There was a period where I wasn’t really settled with my equipment. I knew there was a big opportunity to putt better. Had I putted the way I’ve putted the last few years during the prime of my ball-striking career, I’d have cleaned up. I was never in the top 100 before in putting — outside of an uptick in 2018 — before I switched to the Axis1. It’s the only part of my equipment I haven’t tinkered with in recent years.”

Miura man

Adam Scott continued to shake up his iron composition with a mixed set of Miuras at the Charles Schwab Challenge. The four different Srixon models he had in the bag at the PGA Championship were replaced by CB-302 long irons (4-5) and KM-700 mid and short irons.

Scott and Miura collaborated on a special set of AS-1 blades bearing his initials last year, so this isn’t the first time the Aussie has played something from the Japanese manufacturer.

This also isn’t the first time Scott’s used KM-700 in competition. Last year during the 2023 Wyndham Championship, Scott chose to make a rarely seen Sunday iron change and add KM-700 mid and short irons alongside Titleist 620 CB long irons. He wound up finishing T7 for the tournament.

The red “Hanko” stamp found on the back of each KM-700 head is known as Katsuhiro Miura’s personal stamp of approval when an iron is crafted to his exacting specifications. (It’s important to point out that KM-700 is the only current retail iron offering to feature the Hanko stamp.)

Printing putters

Cobra’s 3D printer has been busy whipping up new creations in recent months. Just last week, the company released its first consumer-ready 3D-printed Limit3d irons. The blades featured an innovative internal lattice structure that allowed 33 percent of the clubhead weight to be repositioned in the form of 100 grams of tungsten — without sacrificing strength.

Based on the MM Proto putter that was introduced on Tour at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Cobra has plans to use the lattice structure on other clubs. Cobra reps wouldn’t comment on the putter design, but it’s safe to assume the lattice located in the heel, toe and cavity serves a similar benefit, removing weight from key areas to reduce unwanted twisting at impact.

Cobra already has a retail line of 3D-printed putters, so this isn’t their first rodeo. However, with new learnings from the Limit3d irons, it’s fair to wonder if the latest MM Proto is an improvement on the previous mallet designs.

Pros were allowed to check out the putter for the first time on Colonial’s practice green and offer feedback that will no doubt be used to shape future 3D designs.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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It’s all about the visuals

Xander Schauffele’s 6-footer will be played on PGA Championship highlight reels for years to come — the ball catching the left edge and spinning into the hole for a tournament-defining birdie. But let’s go back a few moments, before the putt was struck, when CBS cameras zoomed in on the Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas Prototype putter and Callaway Chrome Tour golf ball that would soon remove the 30-year-old from the “best player to never win a major” conversation.

Schauffele’s mallet is impossible to miss on the course due to the red paint on the head. It’s a color he’s come to embrace over the years, outside of a brief stint with the same putter in a silver finish. Visuals matter at the top level of professional golf, and Schauffele’s rarely seen a need to shake things up.

Go back a few years and you’ll find an Odyssey O-Works Red #7 CH in Schauffele’s bag. The head color matches up with the Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas Prototype he started using last year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. So, too, does the black insert on the face. Or at least it looks like a black insert at first glance.

The insert found on the O-Works Red #7 CH was simply a White Hot painted black to tone down the contrast between the two colors. However, when Schauffele chose to go away from White Hot last to try a different feel with the diamond-milled groove pattern found on his current wand, Odyssey designers had to figure out a way to keep the visuals consistent sans insert.

Schauffele wanted to see a dark finish on the face that mimicked the black White Hot insert on his old wand, so Odyssey added black paint to a large section of the face. The only part that didn’t receive black paint was a small section at the top where it transitions from the crown to the face.

“Transitioning from the topline and figuring out where we wanted the red paint to stop was tricky,” Toulon said. “If you stop it at the edge of the topline, it can get chipped or look that way easier. So we took it over slightly to make sure it didn’t look choppy.”

Even though Odyssey painted the face to the bottom — inserts typically float in the middle of the face — Schauffele found the custom job passed the eye test at address.

“When he got the putter, he looked down at it and said, ‘Hello, old friend,’” Toulon said. “It’s what he’s seen a lot of putts go in with over the years. It’s a comfort thing for him.”

Schauffele and the putter have been inseparable ever since.

New neck

Brooks Koepka’s Scotty Cameron T5.5 putter remained in the bag during the major championship, but it was deemed a “new” putter for one specific reason: the neck.

Instead of sticking with the slant neck that earned plenty of coverage during the Masters, Koepka moved into the same T5.5 with a plumber’s neck. According to a Titleist rep, Koepka liked the look and feel of the 5.5 but wanted to see it rotate more like the Anser-style blade he’s used for most of his career.

Quick-hitters: Viktor Hovland switched from Titleist’s Pro V1 to Pro V1x golf ball to add spin through the bag. … Michael Block became the first pro to put a full set of TaylorMade’s Proto irons (5-9) in play.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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The post How Justin Thomas gained almost 10 yards with 1 driver change appeared first on Golf.

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The good rounds have been good, but the bad rounds have been anything but memorable. For Thomas’ lofty standards, success is determined by wins. More specifically, major championship wins. And with the PGA Championship heading back to Valhalla Golf Club next week, the Louisville, Ky., native, has his sights set on hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy on his home turf.

The drive to peak for the year’s second major saw Thomas make a scouting trip to Valhalla last week to assess the conditions and see if some at-home equipment testing could pay dividends — in particular, if he could get the driver back on track after ranking 62nd in Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee in his first full season with Titleist’s TSR3 driver. Through the first half of this season, he’s 82nd in the statistical category.

Even with his driving accuracy improving and ball speed ticking up, Thomas realized that a change could be good. With two weeks off to test, Thomas rang up Titleist Tour rep JJ Van Wezenbeeck to see if they could come up several driver builds to demo.

“Justin’s hitting more fairways this year than he has in previous years, but his directional miss was different,” Van Wezenbeeck told GOLF.com. “Sometimes for him, that’s launch angle related. We wanted to tie in a driver that was easier to launch to try and limit the bias to one direction.”

Titleist TSR2 Custom Driver

$599

Titleist TSR2 is slimmed down and ramped up. For players who make contact across the entire surface of the face, it combines our most significant CG shift with a new Multi-Plateau VFT face to boost speed across the face. All within a cleaner, refined shape that inspires total player confidence. Benefits High Launch & Low Spin Optimized Speed Increased Stability Across Face Player-Preferred Shaping Features Multi-Plateau VFT (Variable Face Thickness) Design Aerospace Grade Titanium Improved Aerodynamics SureFit Adjustability

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For a player with plenty of speed, TSR3 checked plenty of boxes for Thomas. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with going outside the comfort zone to see if a new option helps, which is exactly what Van Wezenbeeck decided to do when he sent Thomas a TSR2 head for testing.

“I used a bigger style head [like the TSR2] a couple years ago,” Thomas told GOLF.com. “I know it’s supposed to have a little bit more spin, so I was just trying to see if I could get my mishits to be a little more consistent and better. That’ll be better for my driving.”

The generous TSR2 profile is designed for golfers with inconsistent contact who need added launch, but even the best players in the world can benefit from the design, Thomas included. During testing, Thomas found the profile gave him the freedom to attack the ball, which translated to almost 3 mph of additional ball speed and a launch that was nearly 1.5 degrees higher than his usual window. That’s nearly 10 yards of extra distance for those keeping track at home.

“It’s been fast,” said Thomas, who’s now cruising at 182-183 mph ball speed. “It’s a little faster than the one I’ve been using. It could have something to do with the bigger profile, maybe it mentally feels more forgiving. I’m not quite sure. It’s one of those things that’s probably a subconscious thought.”

Content with the numbers he was seeing at home, Thomas took the driver for a test spin at Valhalla and saw similar results on the course, which led him to put TSR2 in play this week at the Wells Fargo.

“I’ve really driven is well the week I used it,” he said. “Just hitting it more solid. I don’t know what it is about the look, but I’ve just been a little bit more consistent with the spin numbers. Seeing fewer knuckleballs and curving. Drove it great for the two days I played [Valhalla]. It’s a long golf course and it’s all right in front of you — just drive it well and hit your long and mid irons well.”

Thomas will need every club in the bag to cooperate at Valhalla if he wants to get in the mix, but if the driver is humming, it certainly gives the 31-year-old an edge on the field.

“There’s a lot of drivers needed at Valhalla, so that’s always good for him to have something he’s feeling comfortable with,” Van Wezenbeeck said. “It’s causing the ball speed increase because when he feels like he can launch it easily, he’s able to apply some force. That’s always a good thing for JT.”

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post How Justin Thomas gained almost 10 yards with 1 driver change appeared first on Golf.

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The post ‘It was a no-brainer’: Inside a Tour pro’s surprising gear deal appeared first on Golf.

Most pros flash the ball and go about their business, but on this particular day at the Houston Open, Griffin flashed his ball and waited for a response. It’s the same one he’s received in subsequent rounds since he chose to employ Maxfli’s Tour X in competition.

“The reaction is usually the same,” Griffin told GOLF.com. “Their face lights up and they look at me and say, “Are you serious?” It’s a brand they likely haven’t seen in 15 or 20 years, so that’s been cool. It’s definitely sparked some curiosity out here.”

On a Tour where equipment blue bloods dominate the headlines, Griffin is embracing a more contrarian route by agreeing to play Maxfli’s flagship Tour ball for the remainder of the PGA Tour season following extensive testing. As part of the agreement, Griffin will join Lexi Thompson as the latest pro to endorse Maxfli golf balls.

“Lexi drew my interest to the ball initially,” Griffin said. “I saw she was playing it and my caddie, [Alex Ritthamel], who used to caddie for Lexi’s brother Curtis, thought I should at least test out the Maxfli to see how it performed. A few months passed and I finally got my hands on some. I did some preliminary testing but wasn’t planning on doing much with the ball.”

That was until he saw the increase in ball speed and distance.

“It was roughly 8 yards additional during preliminary testing,” Griffin said. “Around the green, I didn’t see a ton of differences across balls. That’s when the distance side really started to intrigue me. There are certain weeks out here when distance has kind of turned into a priority.”

According to Griffin, he saw the benefits extra distance can provide during a practice round this week at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson when he easily cleared a bunker sitting 300 yards away by 10-plus yards.

“That was a pleasant surprise,” he said. “You see things like that and wonder why you didn’t switch sooner. Because of the positive results, it was a no-brainer for me. I definitely think it’s going to help me.”

While Griffin’s ball deal with Maxfli is being announced this week, he confirmed on-course testing has been going on for a few months and included competitive rounds in Houston and the Dominican Republic where he was able to see firsthand how well Tour X performed in the wind.

“Houston was a good test,” said Griffin. “Then I put it in play on probably the windiest weeks of the year, in the Dominican, and it performed exceptionally well in the conditions. I finished T14 that week. The ball wasn’t holding me back by any means. It was one of those situations where I felt like I could’ve been in contention if I had made more putts. Once I realized the ball was performing well on Tour, I figured I better look at it a bit more. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been in touch with Maxfli to see some potential opportunities.”

Balls

The conversations eventually led to a deal that subsequently expanded Maxfli’s Tour footprint. Before Thompson and Griffin put the Tour ball in play, Maxfli was merely known as a Dick’s Sporting Goods brand. It’s a far cry from the years when Maxfli was a major player on Tour and boasted a roster that once included the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman and Fred Couples.

With pros beginning to embrace Maxfli again, Griffin said it’s time for weekend golfers to reassess the brand’s position as a big box offering.

“I’ve done enough testing to where I feel very confident in the ball’s performance on Tour,” he said. “If you look at the price point compared to other balls in a store, it’s significantly less. But in my opinion, it has the feel of an elite ball — and the distance to prove it. There’s the stability in the wind, too. Hopefully playing in the wind later this summer in Scotland, along with the British Open, I need to make sure I’m using a ball that’s good in those conditions.”

It’s easy to look at Griffin’s latest deal and wonder if endorsement dollars drove his decision to sign with Maxfli. What ultimately swayed him to change balls midseason was the opportunity to try something different that wasn’t available on Tour and get Maxfli back on the Tour map.

“It’s one of the only products you’re using on every single shot, and I know a lot of guys are hesitant to change for that reason,” he said. “I’ve been excited this year to be a free agent and test some more products out, at least the last month or so. The [Maxfli] ball is the one that piqued my interest the most. Maybe part of the reason is because it doesn’t have a presence [on Tour]. It’s an opportunity to showcase how good it is. I’ve done enough testing with it to feel like I’m confident with it out here.

“It has a lot of potential. This could be the start where we see a few more guys test it. Maybe not this year, but in the years to come. It’s fun to try something out here that no one else is. Some might say it’s a risk. But to me, it’s very calculated. I’ve seen the numbers to prove it.”

Griffin is hoping his calculated switch pays off — starting this week in Texas.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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Proto surfaces again

TaylorMade’s better-player irons typically run on a two-year cycle, which is important when trying to figure out whether a “Tour prototype” is simply a prototype or a future retail offering.

Over the last few weeks, two high-profile names have added a new cavity-back prototype to the bag. It started with Rory McIlroy adding a Proto 4-iron at the Valero Texas Open and continued last week with Collin Morikawa adding the same 4-iron (above) to his setup at the RBC Heritage.

McIlroy offered some interesting insights a few weeks ago on the better-player profile: “Launch is a little higher, which was surprising,” he said, “and it’s just sometimes I felt like when I hit my 5-iron in the blade and then the 4-iron in the 760 it was such a different feel. To go from a 5-iron now to that (new) 4-iron feels a little closer to what I feel in the 5-iron.”

For the moment, two elite ball-strikers are using the Proto. Expect that number to increase in the coming months. With the iron surfacing on Tour in April and the current P7MC approaching two years — it’s logical to assume this might not be a “Tour proto” for long.

Back in black

Switching irons during the middle of the season can be a cause for concern — unless you’re simply trying to get into a new cosmetic. In Sepp Straka’s case, he made a lateral switch from Srixon’s ZX7 MKII into ZX7 MKII Black Chrome at the RBC Heritage.

The only difference? A new “black chrome” finish that makes the iron head look visually smaller at address. Straka didn’t skip a beat on his way to a T12 finish — even with a fresh set in the bag.

Iron specs: ZX7 MKII Black Chrome | 4-9 | True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts | +1/4″ length | D4 swingweight | Golf Pride Tour Velvet Midsize grips

Long time coming

Patrick Cantlay debuted a new set of Ping Blueprint S irons in recent weeks that have been in the works for five months. According to Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates, Cantlay began testing the irons back in December to get acclimated to the look, sound and performance on the course.

As someone who rarely changes gear, Cantlay was never going to rush an iron switch. Ping reps figured a change might happen at some point, but no one expected Cantlay would actually break them in for the first time at the Masters.

Following a positive first week at Augusta with Blueprint S, the 32-year-old made a few minor adjustments at Harbour Town, including the addition of bounce grind to improve turf interaction. Cantlay also left the event with a fresh set of Blueprint T’s to test at home.

PING Blueprint S Custom Irons

$212.5

Developed following extensive testing with PING’s top tour pros to meet their “must haves” — control and precision — Blueprint S delivers the score-lowering performance demanded by the best players in the world. COMPACT SHAPE The compact shape fits the discerning eye with a thin top line and minimal offset. The 8620 carbon steel head boasts a clean cavity design, distinguished by an eye-catching forged textured pattern and hydropearl 2.0 chrome finish. PRECISION POCKET FORGING This patented forging technique allows PING to forge a pocket into the cavity of the 3, 4 and 5 irons. The pocket saves 10 grams of weight, which is re-allocated to increase the MOI and optimize the center of gravity position for more distance and trajectory control.

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One and done?

There’s a chance Rory McIlroy could follow Tommy Fleetwood’s lead and keep TaylorMade’s BRNR Mini in the bag for the long haul. But we wouldn’t recommend holding your breath. Teeing it up on arguably the tightest layout on the PGA Tour — outside of maybe Colonial Country Club — McIlroy chose to add a 13.5-degree BRNR Mini Copper to find the tightest landing spots.

“It’s a great club, it’s versatile,” McIlroy said.

The club didn’t see much action during the opening round — McIlroy said he hit it three times, due to the wind being out of the south — but McIlroy still managed to produce some impressive shots over the next three days with Mini, including a drive that went well over 300 yards.

TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper

$449.99

Drawing inspiration from the iconic late-90s Burner drivers, the all new BRNR Mini Copper offers a contemporary twist on a timeless design. Its distinctive copper styling, retro logos, and meticulously crafted components blends heritage and modern innovation. FORGIVENESS & ADJUSTABILITY A combination of carbon fiber, titanium and steel creates the foundation for BRNR Mini’s incredible sound, feel and performance. Split weights allow golfers to switch between the standard setting (13g in the back) for easy launch, and the low spin setting (13g in the front) for a piercing trajectory. PRECISE TURF INTERACTION The K-SOLE design helps the club glide smoothly through the turf while reducing resistance and promoting a consistent strike. This enables golfers to have “driver off the deck” distance with the consistency of higher lofted fairway woods. TOUR PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES Twist Face®, Thru-Slot Speed Pocket and the four-degree Loft Sleeve provide the ultimate suite of technologies. Twist Face helps golfers overcome inherent mis-hit tendencies for straighter shots, while the Speed Pocket is engineered to maximize ball speeds and add forgiveness on low-face strikes. The four-degree Loft Sleeve allows golfers to fine tune loft and face angle for optimum flight.

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Dream week

TaylorMade staffers have been on a roll this season. Nelly Korda and Scottie Scheffler made it five straight titles and four out of five with wins at the Chevron Championship and RBC Heritage. And then there’s 15-year-old Miles Russell, who signed an NIL agreement with TaylorMade last week.

The AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year made noise of his own at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic, becoming the youngest player to make the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour at 15 years and five months old. 

“I have had a great relationship with the team at TaylorMade for years now and couldn’t be more excited to continue to work with them in the future,” Russell. “TaylorMade has a history of developing the top junior talent in the world to help reach their goals of becoming PGA TOUR and major championship winners. I am looking forward to working with the team to reach those and other goals I have laid out for my career.”

Quick-hitters: TaylorMade’s UDI prototype (2-iron) was spotted in Nick Dunlap’s bag at Harbour Town. … Sixteen of the 18 events played this season on the PGA Tour have been won with a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball. The impressive run has also seen 70 percent of all competitors use a Titleist model during the stretch.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf

The post Surprising gear changes, eye-catching Tour releases | Wall-to-Wall appeared first on Golf.

The post These 5 Masters gear changes caught our attention | Wall-to-Wall appeared first on Golf.

The post These 5 Masters gear changes caught our attention | Wall-to-Wall appeared first on Golf.

The new-new

Bryson DeChambeau’s equipment remains a fascinating storyline — even at major championships. The 30-year-old generated Masters headlines when he put a set of 3D-printed Avoda Golf irons in the bag — just two days before the first round.

As DeChambeau revealed, the last-minute iron swap wasn’t because he was unhappy with the previous sticks.

“I had been practicing with [the Avoda irons] quite a while before that,” DeChambeau said. “Last week I found out that they were, unfortunately — we didn’t think it was going to be non-conforming, but they were. Just the groove edge was just too sharp. Carter Rich, [the USGA’s senior director of equipment rules and conformance], was super helpful, and I have to thank him for getting those approved and going through the right process.”

Due to the 3D printing process, the USGA deemed the grooves were too narrow, rendering them non-conforming. Connor Olson, manager of DeChambeau’s BAD company, buffed and ground the grooves himself over the weekend to ensure they were conforming for the Masters.

“I started practicing from then on out and felt comfortable with them Tuesday and Wednesday, had no issue,” DeChambeau said on Friday.

As you’d expect, DeChambeau’s irons are anything but conventional. Tom Bailey, the owner of direct-to-consumer Avoda Golf, made the two-piece irons using a 3D printing process that allowed for something DeChambeau has been clamoring for since 2020: bulge and roll in an iron face.

The term “bulge and roll” is usually reserved for woods to describe the heel-toe curvature (bulge) and crown-sole curvature (roll) that’s added to the face to reduce gear effect on off-center strikes, allowing the ball to finish closer to the target line.

DeChambeau played coy when initially asked about the iron’s design but offered additional details on Friday that all but confirmed he’s implemented bulge and roll into the face. (He also confirmed “there is no backup set,” if something were to happen to the irons.)

“They have a different curvature on the face than other equipment,” DeChambeau said. “Most equipment is flat. These have a different curvature on the face that allows me to have my mis-hits to go a little straighter sometimes.”

(Click here to read the full report on DeChambeau’s new irons)

False start

Collin Morikawa kicked off Masters week with arguably the hottest putter on Tour in the bag — and then pulled an about-face.

In a move straight out of the Dustin Johnson putter playbook, Morikawa arrived with TaylorMade’s Spider Tour X — better known as “Scottie’s mallet” — and used it during practice sessions, the Par 3 Contest and an opening-round 71. The 71 looked good on paper, but Morikawa lost nearly four-tenths of a stroke on the greens, according to DataGolf, which resulted in a mid-tournament putter benching.

When Morikawa arrived on Friday, TaylorMade’s TP Soto was back in the bag. As some gearheads may recall, Morikawa made a few adjustments to the TP Soto during the 2023 Ryder Cup, including adding a one-off Mitsubishi graphite putter shaft.

“I came into this week not putting well or not feeling comfortable with the putter that I had in my hands. Went full 180, switched to the mallet, switched to the Spider, and was feeling great, to be honest,” Morikawa said on Saturday. “I felt really, really good. Felt better than I’ve kind of felt all year.

“But sometimes you don’t know how it’s going to feel in the tournament. Through that Thursday and then Friday morning round, it was just for me to finish the round, like I just wanted to get the putter out of my hands because I couldn’t get comfortable with it.”

The putter change resulted in an impressive charge up the leaderboard that concluded in a T4 showing on Sunday, his best finish in five Masters starts.

Along with the putter change, Morikawa also replaced his TaylorMade SIM woods with a 9-degree Qi10 LS driver and 13.5-degree Qi10 fairway wood. According to TaylorMade reps, Morikawa was seeking an uptick in spin that Qi10 provided.

Double up

It was a week of equipment headlines for Tony Finau. It started with Finau adding “putter designer” to his resume on Wednesday and continued with the inclusion of a second Ping G430 LST driver. Yes, that’s two drivers for those counting at home.

Ping G430 LST Custom Driver

$579.99

The PING G430 LST Driver features an exclusive Low Spin Technology (LST) Carbonfly Wrap, a lightweight composite that covers the crown and wraps into the heel/toe sections of the skirt to save weight and lower the CG for more ball speed, less spin and higher MOI. The 8-layer, one-piece composite saves four grams and weighs 11.5g fully installed. A moveable 22-gram, high-density tungsten backweight influences shot shape ±7 yards between the Draw, Neutral and Fade settings. At 440cc, the smaller tour-style LST is available in 9° and 10.5° lofts (adjustable +/-1.5° and lie up to 3° flat from standard) and best fits faster swing speeds. THE DISTANCE DIFFERENCE. MORE BALL SPEED. A shallower, variable-thickness face is thinner to create more face deflection for generating faster ball speed for our biggest distance gains to date. THE SOUND SOLUTION A new integral rib structure and increased curvature of the crown, skirt and sole fine tunes clubhead frequencies to produce a desirable sound and impact experience. SPINSISTENCY A variable roll radius, with less loft low on the face, enhances spin consistency and carry distance. CARBONFLY WRAP Lightweight composite crown wraps into the heel and toe of the skirt to save weight and lower the CG for more ball speed with higher MOI. MOVEABLE BACK WEIGHT A 25-gram, high-density tungsten moveable backweight influences shot shape +/-10 yards between the Draw, Neutral and Fade settings.

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In the search to optimize his performance off the tee, along with the second shot into par-5s, Finau began to realize how seldom he used 3-wood off the tee and ground during Masters week. The only hole he could come up with was No. 8, but it would need to be playing into the wind in soft conditions to make it a possibility.

“With that in mind, we felt it would be worth exploring a driver built to more 3-wood specs,” said Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates. “In other words, shorter with more loft.”

The same week Ping “supercharged” Finau’s 7.75-degree G430 LST gamer (45.25 inches) in Houston, Oates and the Tour team also built a shorter 10.5-degree G430 LST driver at 44.5 inches. (The shorter driver’s loft sleeve is set in the “little minus” setting, giving it 9 degrees of actual loft.)

Initial testing at Augusta saw Finau carrying it 285-290 yards with the little driver. To put those numbers into perspective, Finau generally carries the gamer driver 305-315 yards.

In Finau’s eyes, the combination of the shorter length with his added speed makes for a lethal combination, especially when he needs to hit a slight draw but doesn’t need to hit it over 300 yards. Since returning to the course in January, Finau has seen his ball speed increase from 175 mph to cruising at 183-185 mph with 190 in the tank.

Finau’s “little driver” was built to see plenty of action on the course, particularly on Nos. 2, 7, 10, 14, 17 and 18.

Koepka putter

Go back and look at Brooks Koepka’s major successes and you’ll notice some of the most important tools in the bag haven’t changed much. Most notably, the Scotty Cameron Teryllium Newport 2 putter he’s wielded with considerable success.

Up until a few weeks ago, Koepka had a particular look and feel he preferred on the greens. Then along came a Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 mallet to shake things up.

Scotty Cameron 2022 Phantom X 5.5 Custom Putter

$429.99

The evolution of Scotty Cameron’s Phantom X 5.5 continues with his latest creation, inspired by Justin Thomas’ prototype gamer, yet refined with a new, self-centering sole plate design, updated graphics and an all-new Pistolero Plus grip with a decorative, non-slip texture. The small slant—or “jet” neck—configuration remains unchanged, as do the solid face and body precision milled from 303 stainless steel and integrated with an updated aluminum sole plate and customizable stainless steel sole weights. This combination of heavier steel and lighter aluminum moves weight to the perimeter of the head, increasing MOI, stability and forgiveness. Designed to promote a more flowing “blade-like” feel with the stability of a mallet, the milled sight line on the topline provides alignment, while the refined design aesthetic exudes high-end luxury and pristine craftsmanship at every turn. From the definitive misted surface textures designed to reduce glare, to the clean milling marks purposely designed, everything about the new Phantom X 5.5 instills confidence.

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The putter initially surfaced in Koepka’s bag during a practice round with the Florida State men’s golf team, and then made an appearance last week for LIV’s event in Miami. Koepka went on to shoot 69-77-77 during the 54-hole event — a brief snapshot that led many to wonder if the 33-year-old would return to his reliable blade when he arrived at Augusta.

Koepka showed up with the mallet at the beginning of the week and quickly confirmed he wouldn’t be making any changes — even though he was photographed with two putters in the bag on Tuesday.

“Yep, same putter,” Koepka said. “I felt comfortable and changed for two weeks now. I’m comfortable with it. I just wasn’t seeing any putts go in. I felt like I was hitting a lot of lips and good putts, but nothing was falling. We’ll just stick with it and see how it goes.”

Koepka made the weekend but was never a factor with the new putter in tow, finishing T45 at nine over.

(Click here to read the full report on DeChambeau’s new irons)

Rory’s 4-iron

Rory McIlroy’s lone Masters gear change occurred the week before stepping foot on the grounds at Augusta National. But it was still made with the year’s first major championship in mind.

During a scouting trip to Augusta, McIlroy tried out a cavity-back TaylorMade Proto 4-iron that performed well enough to bump his P760 from the bag. McIlroy offered several interesting insights on the club during a pre-tournament presser.

“It’s just as fast as the 760 I was using,” McIlroy said. “Launch is a little higher, which was surprising, and it’s just sometimes I felt like when I hit my 5-iron in the blade and then the 4-iron in the 760 it was such a different feel. To go from a 5-iron now to that (new) 4-iron, it feels a little closer to what I feel in the 5-iron. So just a little bit more responsive, but didn’t lose any performance from it, which is great.”

The sight of TaylorMade’s newest prototype in McIlroy’s bag led many gearheads to wonder if something new is in the retail pipeline. It’s pure conjecture at this point, but TaylorMade has a history of introducing eventual retail products on Tour, so it’s conceivable we would see a full set of cavity-back prototypes for the weekend crowd in the future.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post These 5 Masters gear changes caught our attention | Wall-to-Wall appeared first on Golf.